Pearly Jawfish eggs

[Jaebster]

No apology needed for changing the direction of this thread.... I love jawfish of all types! I strongly debated getting blue spots instead of the pearlies but when I checked the compatibility chart with seahorses, the BSJ was a huge "no no". The pearlies don't actively attack my ponies but at feeding time they are quite the aggressive pigs, so I imagine if I had gone with BSJ they might actually be nipping at the horses. But of course, next time I see a healthy one at my LFS I will be very tempted, although I'm thinking mixing the types of jawfish in a 72 gallon would not be wise.

I'm not seeing any eggs in my PJF this morning so they're either gone or he just "put them down" for a few minutes, which I've seen him do. And when I examined them last night they were pure white, and from the photos I've seen I suppose they should have been darker with eyeballs if they were close to hatching. I did contact the fry trap guy asking if he had any in stock - still waiting to hear back.
Sue

So are the eggs still there?

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

No, the eggs disappeared, but today he is holding another mouthful of them. I have the Vossen fry trap but not sure when to turn the battery-operated light on because if I do it before bed, the battery won't last all night.

Do the fry normally get released at dawn? At dusk? Is it predictable? I remember when I was raising clownfish I had the sides of the tank blacked out but I don't remember why.
Sue

 

[ThRoewer]

... I have the Vossen fry trap but not sure when to turn the battery-operated light on because if I do it before bed, the battery won't last all night.
...

That flimsy battery operated light is the greatest flaw of that trap. I need to build a light that can be plugged into an outlet so that the trap can be operated continuously.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Great idea. Just a gooseneck, clip on light would work! Just ordered one from Amazon.
Sue

 

[ThRoewer]

Great idea. Just a gooseneck, clip on light would work! Just ordered one from Amazon.
Sue

Please share which one you are using and what your results are. I kind of plan to run my larvae trap continuously in some tanks where it is not easy to tell when larvae hatch.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Please share which one you are using and what your results are. I kind of plan to run my larvae trap continuously in some tanks where it is not easy to tell when larvae hatch.

This is what I ordered .... should be here in a day or two. Light for fry trap

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

So refresh my memory, please: will the jawfish release the fry at lights out or lights on? I know my seahorses do it as soon as I turn the lights on, but if I remember correctly, I think I blacked out my clownfish tank and then shone a light on it to attract the fry? Is it the same process with jawfish? I'm not sure how long I have - I believe he received the eggs 3 days ago but I don't see any eyes in his mouth yet.
Sue

 

[ThRoewer]

At lights out. Otherwise, they would just be food for the vultures. At night there is at least a chance that a few might make it...

 

[ThRoewer]

I found this light at Petsmart:

I had to dim it down with 2 layers of paper covering the LED but otherwise it's close to perfect.

 

[TriggerFinger]

Any update on the eggs @SueAndHerZoo??!

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Any update on the eggs @SueAndHerZoo??!

A few days later, he no longer had them in his mouth.... don't know what happened to them. But he's got another mouthful right now. Every night when I turn off the tank lights on put on the airpump in the fry catcher and turn on the light shining on it. Hoping to see something in there one of these days, but I have yet to see any "eyes" in the jawfish's mouth when I look closely. When and where do they get fertilized? Could they be young and not producing viable eggs yet? Or is he eating them?
Sue

 

[Brandon38]

Let's see pics!!! I love jawfish!!!

No, the eggs disappeared, but today he is holding another mouthful of them. I have the Vossen fry trap but not sure when to turn the battery-operated light on because if I do it before bed, the battery won't last all night.

Do the fry normally get released at dawn? At dusk? Is it predictable? I remember when I was raising clownfish I had the sides of the tank blacked out but I don't remember why.
Sue

So the current round of breeding on my pearly jawfish has worked out to average of 8 days from time we see eggs to hatch. He released them 30 to 45 minutes after the final.light goes out on the tank. They cover the holes then he opens hole up again and starts the process of releasing them. Hopefully we are better prepared to take care of the fry this time as this round has about double what he has had previously. Ball.is about as big as his head.